


Is This Training or Foreplay?

by TheBadassIsIn



Series: Triple Dog Dare Verse [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fun, Groping, M/M, Mates, POV Multiple, Sheriff Stilinski Knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 03:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBadassIsIn/pseuds/TheBadassIsIn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek shifts in the blink of an eye, baring his fangs and letting out a deafening roar in Jackson’s direction. It should be terrifying. His dad sits back heavily on the porch, hand instinctively going for a gun that’s not with him. But something pulses through Stiles that definitely isn’t fear and is strong enough that he has to blink against it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Is This Training or Foreplay?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: The training session gets a little heated winkwink, with more Jackson and DON'T FORGET THE DOG TREATS!
> 
> I didn't forget the dog treats and hopefully you're happy with the two kinds of heated I played with (I'm saving the third for next time ;);) )  
> I hope you all enjoy, stick with the series, and keep sending me such awesome reviews and prompts :D

“He doesn’t still live in there does he?”

“Nope. Come on, let’s give the girls food to guard. You can talk to Allison about guns or something.”

They unload the bags, Stiles’ dad being sure to grab the one with the milk bones, and head up to the porch where Allison laid out a blanket and the girls are sitting on the steps. Stiles starts emptying the bags while Lydia stares off into the woods with a frown on her face. He’s just about to try making her smile when he hears Allison attempting to be subtle about getting his dad to take a Taser. Something’s definitely wrong.

“Mr. Stilinski, would you like one? It’s my dad’s latest model. I can customize one for you if you’d like.” She holds up her own black Taser with Allison written in light blue along the side.

“Do I want to ask?”

Stiles sighs.“Electricity forces a change back. Derek probably told her to bring it in case someone has trouble with control.”

“Actually they were my idea to bring.” Lydia pipes in before going back to pout at the trees.

Allison passes a yellow one to him that looks like it had seen a couple fights or maybe a training session with Lydia if the way the girl just kicked hers off the steps while trying to straighten her skirt was any indication. “Here Sheriff, this one was for Stiles but no one is going to go near him after last night.”

Stiles groans and takes a seat, waiting for the torture to begin. He was regretting this so bad. Teasing and details, he didn’t know which would be worse but he was sure he was going to have to face both in abundance.

“What was last night?”

“Mate coming out party at the full moon lock in.” Lydia said, picking up her Taser to wipe the dirt off and study the safety. “I thought Stiles told you.” She didn’t seem too concerned about outing information Stiles may not have mentioned.

“Lock in? They locked you in with them on the full moon?” Crap. That sounded so much worse than it was but thankfully Allison was there to play clean up with him.

“More like sleep over. Derek had instituted wolf only lock-ins when he started his pack, it was Stiles’ idea to make them more like a party. They actually help the whole pack stay a lot calmer and we can keep tabs on each other in case there’s an issue. It’s been successful so far.” Allison said. His dad nodded, not seeming entirely comfortable with the idea but not voicing any further concerns either. He seemed more interested in Lydia picking leaf bits out of the cartridge.

“You know how to use that?”

“Do you need lessons sheriff?”

His dad laughs. “I’m good. Thanks.” Allison smiles and they settle down to watch what Stiles hopes is a very calm and organized training session. Maybe a little action to keep things entertaining but not so much that his dad doesn’t trust that he’s safe. He makes his way to Isaac, Erica and Boyd to find out if the vibe he was getting from Allison was right.

“So, what happened? Do I want to know and is Derek still having trouble with control?”

“Jackson is still alive and Derek was provoked… if that helps.” Isaac says, shrugging where he’s standing at the tree line, probably keeping tabs on the fight still thundering through the woods.

“Great. What happened?”

Erica was licking her lips at the gossip she was about to supply, “Jackson called you his little bitch.”

“Jackson’s little bitch!” Stiles shrieked because what the fuck?

“No, Derek’s. Keep up.”

“Crap. But that’s not that bad right? I mean, it’s Jackson.”

“No. For that Derek just got in his face and tried to glare him to death you know, and  _then_ Jackson took it back and apologized saying he forgot you were the alpha now and he’s your little bitch. Derek ordered him to stop talking and Jackson said he would only be taking orders from you now and started taunting him about how he wouldn’t do anything because your dad was on his way then he said some really juicy stuff about what your sex life would be like-“

“Oh-kay!”

“That didn’t go very well.” Boyd added, effectively summing up how Jackson’s clothes got ripped and bloody before his run through the woods.

“Yeah. Derek is chasing Jackson and Scott is defending your honor and trying to calm them down which just seems to be pissing Derek off more.”

“Perfect.” Stiles paced for a minute.

Erica went back to playfully extending and retracting her claws and Isaac came over to be his sensitive friend while Scott was honoring the bro code by hopefully getting a punch in and keeping Derek from murdering a minor in front of his dad. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know whether to take over and start the training without them because my dad’s here and I don’t want him to think anything’s wrong or if I should go out there. Maybe I should send you guys out there or call Scott back? I don’t know.”

“That’s a lot of options.”

“Alright.” Stiles says, taking a deep breath. “I can’t tell if he’s angry right now or if he’s just in it for the chase and some stupid sense of duty. You guys come with me back near the house. Come on.”

Stiles leads the others back to the porch where Lydia seems to have snapped back and is organizing the food. “Stiles, that’s just mean!” She says holding up the dog treats.

“Nope, that was all him.” He rats out his dad.

“Oh, I like you. Be sure to throw one at Jackson.” She says, passing the Sheriff the box with an evil glint in her eye.

“That’s what I said! Alright guys, we’re going to eat cookies and you can explain how your anchor works to my dad if you want and we’ll talk about setting up new ones. Maybe try them out. But probably not until Derek gets back. Okay?”

Lydia winks at him “Look at Alpha Stiles taking charge and running training.” Another roar sounds through the woods and Stiles winces with the betas.

“Did he hear that?” He whispers. Isaac just nods, eyes wide. “Yeah, let’s cool it on the Alpha Stiles stuff today.” He tells everyone. “How loud do you think I’ll have to be for Scott to hear me?”

“You’ll probably have to yell to get his attention, he’s a little distracted right now.”

“Yo Scott! Give me a progress report!” He shouts to the trees. Isaac laughs and lets him know he’s on his way back.

“Progress report, what are we in school?”

“Details Scott.”

“Derek just chased Jackson up a tree and is threatening the life of his Porsche if he doesn’t come down.”

“Thanks for defending my honor dude.”

“No problem bro.”

“Want to set up anchors with me?” Another crash sounds in the distance, from the amused smirks on the betas, he assumes it was Derek taking down the tree Jackson was perched in.

“Um… okay. What are we doing?”

“What we did with you and the heart monitor. Wolves use your ears to monitor each other. If someone’s heart rate spikes let me know. Derek wanted you guys to set up a second anchor. I want you to try to think of one that’s the opposite of what you have now. Sad to happy or the other way around. Okay?” None of them look enthused but they all nod. “Good. Go.” Everyone just continues to stare at him. “What?”

“Cookies?”

His dad threw the dog biscuits to Scott, “You weren’t kidding.”

“You get food when you come back with an anchor to share and try out. Go.” They shuffled off, Scott opening the dog biscuits and digging in, “Scotty! Those were a joke dude.”

“Deaton eats them all the time. They’re pretty good.”

Stiles shakes his head and goes to sit back by his dad. “Sorry it’s a little unorganized today.”

“What happened?” This time Lydia was the one to answer from where she was making sure every piece of her outfit was on the blanket and not the dirty steps.

“Jackson was making fun of Stiles so Derek retaliated by telling the pack their first challenge today was to get Jackson to change.” Lydia smirked. “I think it will be good for him.”

“I really don’t care, that’s just kinda priceless. Wish we had gotten here sooner.” Stiles chuckles.

“Why can’t Jackson change? I thought he was a wolf now.” That was a good question, go dad. Stiles had been worried about Jackson too but aside from having his marvelous attitude enhanced on the full moon, he was doing really well. In fact, Stiles doesn’t think he’d seen the full wolf since the night they killed his Kanima. He and Derek had spoken a little bit about it, but Lydia was probably more comfortable giving details.

“He won’t talk about it but I think that because he was so out of control as a Kanima he thinks he’ll lose himself as a werewolf too. He never lets himself change in front of people. Derek says they’ve been working on it one on one but he wouldn’t let me come to a training session before today so I don’t really know what’s happening.” That was probably the tension coming off her like stink lines in a comic book. Or, you know, little swirly cinnamon bun scent lines because it’s Lydia.

They heard Jackson before they saw him crash through the trees. Derek marched out of the woods to stand next to where the beta was curled on the ground. His eyes were glowing but Stiles thanked whoever cared that fangs and claws were put away.

His dad still shot up looking like he was going to make sure the idiot was alive, but Jackson was on his feet brushing himself off and flinching at Derek’s proximity before he was off the steps.

“You broke my wrist you-“

“It’s already healed. I can break something else if you keep stalling.” Derek walked back to lean against the Porsche.

“Don’t you dare!” Derek shifts in the blink of an eye, baring his fangs and letting out a deafening roar in Jackson’s face. “Shit.” It should be terrifying. His dad sits back heavily on the porch, hand instinctively going for a gun that’s not with him. But something pulses through Stiles that definitely isn’t fear and is strong enough that he has to blink against it.

“Stiles!” Erica stage whispers, not at all subtle.

“Not a word!”

Derek shifts back just as fast and leans calmly against the car again, eyes still glowing while he watches Jackson jog up to the stairs and nod at the Sheriff. “Sorry I insulted your son and ran in front of your car.” His dad just looked at him and back to Jackson.

“Okay. Here, have a treat.” He said, nodding to Scott so he would throw back the box. Jackson looked hopeful for a second before the box of treats hit him square in the back of the head.

“Jackson!” Derek barked, and the beta looked away from the laughing Scott to address Stiles.

“ _Stiles_.” He gritted out through clenched teeth. “ _Please_  find it in your…” He had to pause to clear his throat and Stiles had to admit he was intrigued. “beautiful,  _perfect_  heart to forgive my short comings as your pack mate.” A low growl is building from Derek’s direction that had Jackson’s eyes widening as he stumbles to correct the lousy script. “Pack member! Your beta!”

“Well my beautiful blonde beta, you’ve said worse I’m sure so go eat one of those bones and you’re forgiven.” Jackson pulls an epic bitchface before bending down to pick up the box. “Nope. One of those.” Stiles points to the bones on the ground. Jackson picks up a treat and looks to the Sheriff for help. “Triple dog dare you.”

“That’s a little mean Stiles.”

“You don’t know the horrifying things he said. Neither do I actually, but I’ll get Derek to tell me later.”

Jackson, somehow cocky enough to think the danger is over, chooses that moment to push Derek again. “See. Told ya you were the bitch.” Stiles tried so hard not to laugh.

“Oh Jackson, you dumbass. Look at Derek. See that smile? Why do you think he’s smiling right now?”

“What smile?”

“He’s smiling with his eyes. And do you know why?”

“What? Just spit it out!”

“You left your car undefended.” Derek doesn’t even change expressions as he reaches over and knocks the driver’s side mirror off. Jackson runs to the car and pulls out his wolf in the alpha’s face.

Derek just grins . “Good. Now stay that way for the entire session or I’ll take off the other one.” Stiles thinks this was probably Derek’s game plan all along. He could have used a little warning on the dramatics front. Flying betas wasn’t exactly how he wanted to introduce his dad into the pack.

Derek heads over to the porch to take in the set up and pick up the milk bones, giving the box to Stiles and glaring until he points to his dad, ratting him out once again. Derek’s eyes are still red and Stiles isn’t sure if it’s a control over the training session thing to remind everyone he’s still the alpha or a control slipping thing but he feels that pulse low in his gut again as he looks into them.

“Sheriff. This was supposed to be a calm day, I’m sorry about that.”

Stiles didn’t give his dad the chance to answer or possibly bad mouth how Derek treats the pack. “You’re evil. If you ever touch my jeep, no doggy treats ever.” Derek doesn’t look impressed. Hell, half the dents and scratches already on the jeep are because of the werewolves. Let’s not forget when the battery was ripped out and the hood smashed. Or his poor crooked steering wheel.

“He can’t keep bottling his wolf up or all the control he’s built will crack and he’ll slip.”

“Speaking of which, your eyes are still red.” Derek nods. “They going to stay that way?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Just curious.” Stiles keeps up the brave mask until he feels that pulse melt down and simmer in his gut. Derek tilts his head as if he’s catching on that this is a thing, Stiles found a kink he doesn’t know what to do with quite yet and he feels himself swallow hard as Derek’s nostrils flare to scent the air. The alpha’s eyes dilate, making the red appear even darker and that simmering heat shivers up his spine and through his belly. Shit. Derek breaks eye contact first, choking a little and stepping back.

“God, you guys are disgusting.” Erica says, pulling Stiles back to the real world where he is surrounded by people with extra strong senses and, oh yeah,  _his dad!_

“You’re up first. What have you got?” He asks Erica, getting back to business.

When she just looks at him with a raised brow the alpha steps in. “Stiles gave you an assignment.”

“Fine. I pick you.” She shot back, looking right at Derek.

All of Stiles muscles tensed up, Erica apparently had a knack for pushing his jealousy button this week. “Excuse me?” He couldn’t help but ask because he knew Erica’s anchor was not a happy one so if she was going for the opposite then did Derek make her happy? Sure, that’s great, family, pack, but then he remembers the story about their kiss and maybe she  _does_  have a crush? Stiles was starting to see a different kind of red than those sexy eyes he kept glancing up to check.

“Yeah. Thinking about ripping his pretty face off makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” Something in Stiles snaps and he’s on his feet before he can even think through what he was about to do. He didn’t come back to himself until he felt Derek’s arms wrap around him from behind and pull him back against his chest. Derek and his dad were calling his name and Stiles had to take a few deep breaths before he could focus on it.

“Stiles!” He stopped fighting Derek’s hold as his dad steps in front of him.

“What the hell is wrong with you? If you’re trying to prove that they’re not dangerous you’re taking it a bit far don’t you think?”

“You alright?” Derek asked behind him. Stiles let his muscles relax and tried to reign in the angry haze that took over. He was still shaking and it took him a minute to realize it wasn’t him, but Derek who was still holding him a bit too tight, his heart pounding against Stiles’ back. “That’s it, calm down.” The order was like a jolt through him, making him clench and unclench his fists. He hadn’t been this pissed in a long time and he didn’t even know why. Jealousy? That’s ridiculous. Stiles probably got jealous of someone once a day. And then it hit him.

“No. You need to calm down. This is all seeping from you.” He fought Derek’s hold again and the alpha let him go. Stiles raised his hands hoping the motion gave off the equal amounts of  _I’m fine_ and _don’t touch me_  he needed it to. Stiles went back to the porch and tore open the bag of Oreo’s. His dad stayed next to Derek and just watched.

“Do you think that’s what that was? The  _thing_ between you?”

Derek mimics the motion of clenching and unclenching his fists, looking confused but not angry. Stiles feels guilt sour his stomach but that little something tickles the back of his head and tells him it’s not his. “I don’t know. I’m not angry right now.” The Sheriff nods and pats Derek’s shoulder before going back to the steps. “Erica let’s test your anchor. Step away from the porch. Allison?”

“Already passed out the Tasers.”

“Good.” Derek fiddles with his phone for a minute before throwing it across the yard to Erica who looks at it and visibly tenses. Stiles sees Derek’s lips moving but can’t hear what he’s saying. Whatever it is seems to have an effect on Erica, her eyes glow and claws are out. “You have one minute to get back in control or I do it for you.” He says loud enough for everyone to hear. Lydia picks up her Taser again and his dad watches with rapt attention. Stiles can’t tell if he’s fascinated or waiting for something to go wrong. The spare Taser rests between them so that must be a sign he trusts Derek at least a little.

Erica charges but Derek is ready, blocking her easily, but she’s moving like maybe literally ripping off his face will cement that as her anchor. She gets a fist wrapped in his shirt and fakes snapping at his neck before stabbing her claws into his side over and over again. Derek keeps moving to block but her hold in his shirt is making it near impossible.

“I thought you said he was stronger than them?” His dad was asking, angling his body so Stiles and the girls were behind him but not going for the Taser yet.

“He’s giving her a minute.” And that minute must be up because in one swift move the shirt is off and Derek wraps it around her as a make shift restraint. Stiles doesn’t get to admire the sexiest form of self-defense he has ever seen for long before he notices the claw marks littering Derek’s side. He knows the alpha will heal but that’s still a lot of blood and Erica doesn’t seem happy about her situation. Derek gives her a solid kick to the back and she cries out and hits the ground, her features human again.

“You bastard, what is it with you and my spine!” Derek goes to take his shirt back, maybe to wipe up some of the blood painting his ribs and stomach that Stiles can’t take his eyes off of, but Erica rips it away from him.

“Go think of something else. Try to pick an anchor that actually has meaning this time.” She stalks back to the porch to take the Oreo’s from Stiles and go eat them by the cars. “And give me back my shirt.” Erica takes her time laying the shirt on the ground like a blanket to sit and eat the cookies on before flipping him off. Derek lets out an annoyed little growl.

“If I give you my shirt, can I turn back?” Jackson asks from his seat on the tree line farthest away from the humans as he could get.

“If you give me your shirt you can go next and I’ll think about it.” Jackson jogs over and throws the tattered T at him. Derek just uses it to clean himself off, revealing the deep gashes working to knit themselves together again before throwing it aside.

* * *

Derek was expecting the rebellious response from Erica but not from Stiles, especially when he was trying so obviously hard to impress his father and keep the man convinced they were all fluffy and harmless. When Erica’s face dropped and she audibly swallowed, he thought his glare was just extra effective after the scuff with Jackson. Then he noticed her eyes were tracking something else and looked over to see Stiles standing tense and unleashing a glare of his own. Derek took in his mate, standing about a foot taller than him on the staircase and gulped for an entirely different reason than Erica. He realized now what it meant when he was told your mate has power over you. One look like that from Stiles and there would be no compromise, Derek would do anything he wanted for pure hope that intensity would make it back to bed with them. He had such power.

Derek always imagined that if Stiles asked for the bite he would be this gangly, clumsy comic relief in the pack still designated to research and look out in a fight. From taking in the expressions of his betas, he knew now Stiles would make a terrifying wolf.

But why was he doing this? Stiles was taking hard steps off the stairs and towards Erica before Derek realized what his mate was planning and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Stiles against his chest. “Stiles you idiot.” He said, thinking his mate was just taking being co-alpha too seriously and in need of a little reality check. But Stiles fought against his hold and Derek could feel the anger rolling off him in waves that crashed into his wolf. He called his mates name with no response and his muscles began to shake with effort and worry. If Stiles were a beta, he’d have ripped Erica apart by now.

He kept trying to call his name, call Stiles back to himself but nothing worked until the sheriff was standing in front of them, lecturing Stiles on what he must have thought was a failed attempt at proving himself. When they finally got Stiles to calm down and take a seat, Derek felt the anger melt away, it was all Stiles’ and he had no idea where it came from. Just another thing to add to the list of things to monitor today, but for now a little training for Erica on taking control and Stiles’ leadership seriously. He made sure the pack humans were safe, armed with Tasers and away from where the fight would break out if Erica lost control.

He opened a youtube video he had saved of a girl being harassed while having a seizure and passed it to the waiting beta who recognized it immediately. It was a low blow, but one he needed to take to force the change and test her control. Having her change with no trigger would be too easy to bring back down and he wanted to limit the violence Lydia and the Sheriff would take in today so attacking her was out of the question.

It had the desired effect and Derek was impressed with his own control as he took blow after blow. He gave her sixty seconds to reel her wolf back in, counting off while doing his best to block her wicked claws with his damn shirt getting in the way and pulling him back in. This is why he didn’t wear them in training especially with this bitch who he swore must sharpen her claws like typical girls her age file their nails.

He could sense the Sheriff’s growing anxiety and decided to cut it a few seconds short. Derek grabbed the fist still twisting a hole in his shirt with one hand and tugged the damn thing off with his other, using the fabric to pin Erica’s arms to her side while he gave her a swift kick for good measure.

The beta crumpled, the sound of her broken spine satisfying as he took in his wounds. They weren’t deep, but that didn’t make the ribbons of flesh hanging from his ribs any less hideous. Sadistic bitch.

The next fight took longer but he walked away without a scratch. “Alright Jackson. Stay wolf and keep control. Your turn to chase me.” That had the beta’s attention. “If you can pin me before I make it back here, you can change back. If not, I reveal one of your anchors and you have to stay wolf.”

“One of?” Lydia asked. Jackson was growling and Derek thought this was either going to be the perfect test of control or completely blow up in his face.

“Jackson has five.” Jackson roared shoving Derek’s chest. “So you all should know it’s possible to have more than one and make them work.” Jackson tried to swipe at his face. “Hey! You ready?” he asks, making sure the beta was still in check even if he was trying to get in a few blows.

“Do it.”

“Boyd, if he doubles back-”

“Take me out.”

Derek shoots off through the woods. Jackson’s fast and strong. As a human, his strength and speed kept him at co-captain levels on his lacrosse team with Scott when his athleticism should have been dwarfed.

Even still, Derek could run these woods blind and manages to trip up the beta or lead him into bushes or holes any time he gets close. It takes about ten minutes to make it out to the lake and back, but Jackson never catches up and takes it upon himself to give away his first anchor, “Matt.” He spits out through his fangs kicking a rock at Derek and going to sit back at the tree line.

“Scott. Pick something yet?”

“My dad when he’d explode at my mom.”

“You’re next, go run to the lake and back for a warm up.”

“What? Why?”

“Everyone else ran here and Jackson ran before training started.”

“So did I!”

“And then you came back and ate half a box of milk bones like an idiot. Now go. Be ready when you get back.” He waited until he couldn’t hear Scott’s footfalls. “Stiles what’s worse, me threatening Allison or putting his bike on the roof?” The teasing smile that spread across Stiles’ face was worth the creative effort it took to continuously put up with an angry Scott.

“Probably Allison but that could get really ugly.” Derek looked to Allison.

“I’ll get the bike.”

“What were you thinking of doing?” She asked looking at the crumbling house with skepticism.

“What are you comfortable with?” He can’t help glancing at the Sheriff for his reaction to all this as Allison takes a second to think before jumping off the porch, Taser in hand.

“I’m putting it on the ground close enough to get to if I need it. Hold me against a tree by the throat. That will look bad.  _Don’t_  take my feet off the ground.” Derek tries not to think of her words as orders, he knows she needs to feel some control over the situation. “I train with my dad but consider this you training me in how strong you guys are. I’m going to genuinely struggle to test that and my likelihood of getting away if caught in this situation, try not to bruise me but don’t hold back.” Of course she was taking this as a learning experience. He was really trying to trust Allison but things like this reminded him of the danger she presented to his pack.

“Stiles, you up for coaching him down if he loses it?”

“Would we still be friends if I wasn’t?”

“Good.” He turns to Allison to whisper, “He’s on his way back. Ready?”

For answer she just screams “Derek, no! Scott!” in his ear and smirks as he winces. He pins her to the tree just in time for Scott to come crashing into the clearing in  _typical I’m Scott-I don’t need to take in my surroundings_  fashion and charge Derek. This could never have been pulled off on any of the others, especially since no one had even gotten up to try and help a member of the pack. Derek stepped away from Allison to make sure she wouldn’t get caught in the scuffle as he grabbed Scott’s shoulders to hold him back.

Scott’s claws dig into his arms and Derek loses some ground as Stiles gets up and heads their way. “Hey, Yo, Scott! Think of your dad and what that loser put you through. You got this. Don’t be like him. You trusted him and he hurt you and… your mom. Yeah, Derek maybe this wasn’t such a great trigger-anchor mash up?”

“He’s fine.” Is all he can really get out while trying to protect his throat from Scott’s attacks. Scott backs up a few steps while Derek stays still, tracking his every twitch as he tries to gauge the beta’s level of control. That is until Stiles steps on a twig and the crack makes Derek’s eyes snap to its location.

Scott takes the opportunity to tackle him to the ground before roaring in his face. They wrestle while Scott screams at him. “Don’t you ever touch her!” Derek throws him off and makes easy work of pinning him to the ground. “I’m fine you asshole, get off me!”

He leans in to growl against Scott’s throat. “Do. Not. Tell  _me_. What to do.”

“Hey! No ripping out of throats with teeth!” Stiles yells, distracting Derek enough where he can pull back the wolf that was clawing to the surface at Scott’s challenge. Derek flashes him a smile before going back to glare at Scott. “Understood?”

“Yeah, but you’re still a dick.” Derek helps him up and shrugs.

“If McCall can tackle you I can. I want to try again.” Jackson says, marching over and putting himself between them. This was going to be a long day.

“Fine, same rules.” He says while staring down Scott until he pulls in his fangs and claws again. The beta was in control of his wolf the whole time they fought but his new anchor definitely wasn’t as strong as Allison had been for him and he wanted to make sure it was safe to leave. “Go sit with the others. Don’t go near the human’s until I get back.” He waits until Scott is moping next to Isaac before nodding at Jackson and taking off through the woods. This time he circles the house in a wide and winding loop, weaving in and out of trees a few times before heading in. It didn’t seem as simple as usual, little noises managing to distract him and Derek getting lost in scents and changes in the forest that pulled his attention away long enough for his feet to get ahead of him. He kept almost running into the same fallen trees and divots he was trying to lead Jackson towards. They’re only feet away from the clearing when Jackson is close enough to pounce, the force of it knocking Derek off his feet and into the yard but he easily tumbles them so Jackson is pinned before getting back up and giving the beta space, the beta keeping an eye on him as he goes to get some water. Maybe he’s just tired

Jackson steams on the ground for a minute before getting up and yelling, “Not disappointing my parents.” and storming back to sit near Boyd, choosing to face the woods this time.

Derek looks to Boyd and Isaac. These next two were going to be tough. He knew Boyd’s trigger was his sister’s death and Isaac’s was the bad parts of his father. Derek could relate to one and hated the idea of recreating the other. But he was the alpha. And he just prayed the anchors took hold and he wouldn’t have to repeat what he was about to do.

“Who’s next?” Boyd stands up.

“Ice.”

“Boyd, that’s the same-”

“No, it’s not. Ice is something I choose to live with every day. It’s calm, solid and it’s cold but it can change and it’s who I am now.”

“That’s deep bro.” Scott says, patting the beta’s leg from where he’s sitting and Derek nods. It is different. He’s gone from blame to acceptance. And that makes what he’s about to do feel worse somehow.

“Alright.” He pitches his voice down so only the wolves can hear, trying to taunt Boyd into changing without giving too much of his personal life away to those he might not be ready to tell. That, and Derek was rewording some of his own blame he didn’t want Stiles to hear. “Why did you leave her alone? You were her brother! She was your responsibility. Yours to protect. It doesn’t matter you were younger, you’re the man. Why couldn’t you be a man? You left her alone, and for what? Your feet were tired? You didn’t want to skate anymore? She was taken. God only knows what he did before he killed her. And it’s all you fault.” Boyd’s eyes were closed but his breathing had barely changed. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m ice.”

Derek smiled and raised his voice again. “You got it.” Boyd just nodded and went back to his seat. Jackson pushed Isaac out of the way to step up next. “Are you going to do this every time?”

“Just until I win.”

“There’s four more people. You only have three more anchors.”

“Four?”

“Isaac, Erica has to go again, then Stiles and Lydia.”

“Whoa. Stiles and Lydia? When were you planning on telling Stiles and Lydia this?” His mate says, getting off the porch again.

“You’re here, you’re training. You and Lydia both need self-defense lessons.”

“I’m in heels!” Lydia calls over.

“You’re always in heels. Use them to your advantage.” She huffs and Derek closes the distance between himself and Stiles to whisper to him. “You’ll be fine.” He breaths in the scent of his mate and lets it calm him for getting too close for comfort to his memories of Laura. “We’ll start off even this time.” Derek says, leaning down to dig his hand into the dirt in front of the path to the road. He waits until Jackson copies the stance and takes off on all fours.

It’s worse this time, every scent trail begging him to follow, every squirrel scratching its way up a tree pulling his eyes from the path and his mind from the task. It would be so easy to let his wolf out like this. And then he remembers the beta beside him, keeping pace and trying to shove him off the trail every time he slows. All it takes is a hare frozen up ahead to make Derek stop in his tracks, his wolf ready to bolt after it. Jackson smashes into his side, rolling Derek off the path and ribs first into a tree. Jackson scrambles after him and nearly has him pinned, digging claws into the bruised ribs before Derek is roaring and throwing him off. Jackson fights back, getting up and trying to tackle him again. Derek can hear Stiles laughing about something and it’s nearly enough to make him forget he’s running for a reason. He shakes his head snapping out of it and back into focus. Jackson is at his heels, he picks up the pace, looping around when they get too close to traffic and heading in.

Jackson gets ahead of him and he forgets again what he’s doing, following a scent trail back to Stiles and his laughter. His head is swimming in the sweet smell and curiosity of what could be so funny. He doesn’t notice Jackson until the last second and barely has time to brace himself for another attack. Though fast and vicious, Derek still had him pinned in less than a minute.

“You were teasing me you asshole!”

“What?”

“You kept slowing down! Don’t let me win. I don’t need your help!”

“You lost.”

“And you weren’t trying.” Jackson growls. “Almost killing Jessica Bartlett.” Derek walks over to the porch and grabs a bottle of water to bring back for Jackson. He knew the memories of killing her husband and nearly killing the pregnant girl were the worst for Jackson, he didn’t know why the beta picked that to share over the others.

“Drink this, calm down.” Jackson goes back to his spot and Isaac shuffles his way over.

“You want to heal up first?” Derek looked down at his chest, blood still there but claw marks gone, his ribs were still raw but the bruising was fading fast. He’d be fine in a few minutes. Especially if he went and sat by Stiles. His mate looked up, seeming to read his mind and frowned at his wounds.

“I’m fine. What’s your anchor?”

“Finding out about my brother.” Derek nodded. He still didn’t feel right about triggering Isaac. The beta was strong and so easy to calm down from anger, but he was too open to his other emotions. He didn’t need more scars.

“Pick your trigger.” Isaac looked up at him with those sad eyes and he felt his heart break.

“We can use your trunk, but I might scratch it.”

“Not if your anchor works.” Isaac nods and smiles, taking it as encouragement instead of a threat. It was the best Derek could muster up without showing his soft spot for the kid. He went to get the keys from where he left them in the foyer and unlocked his truck, ripping out the emergency escape tab and walking back to Isaac. “When you’re ready. Don’t think of the anchor until it’s closed.” Derek turned his back and listened to Isaac walk away. As soon as the trunk closed he went to sit on the ground by Stiles, resting his head against his mate’s legs and clenching his fists.

“Relax. He’ll be fine.” He listened to Isaac start to hyperventilate.”

“I can’t focus.” Stiles was quiet for a minute, moving a hand into his hair to scratch at Derek’s scalp until his fists unclenched and his breathing slowed down. He hadn’t realized he was copying Isaac’s quick breaths until Stiles had calmed him.

“Hey, you okay?” He asks, moving the hand to clench the back of his neck. Derek’s eyes slid closed against the dominating gesture. Something like that should set him off, but his wolf recognized it as the comfort it was meant to be and if they were anywhere else he’d be crawling into his mate’s lap. The sound of a fist hitting the inside of the trunk snapped him back.

“I just can’t concentrate on anything.”

“Do you need me to go?”

“No, it’s not you. It’s just everything. The leaves, the birds, the bugs, the traffic, a plane, Lydia eating almonds, Allison playing with the zipper on her boot-” Both girls turned to look at him with guilty smiles.

“You sound like me.”

“What?” Derek tries to keep track of Isaac’s breathing and Stiles words at the same time.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t take my Adderall yet today. Or yesterday because so much was going on, and I’m fine. I know we’ve been sharing stuff but do you think we could swap it? Like my anger fit was something you would do and being so distracted is me, do you think this is the bond?”

“It could be, but it’s supposed to be there to bring us together not change us.”

“Maybe it’s there to help us. Like you’re having trouble controlling your anger issues right now and I don’t have anger issues, so I take on yours because I can control them better. And you are very single minded, you don’t give into distraction as easily, so you’re taking it on for me. It’s probably just like everything else and it’s going to take some time to get used to.” Derek thinks it over for a minute, he’s probably right. Isaac’s breathing starts to slow into chocked sobs and Derek jerks up to run to the trunk.

He throws up the door and Isaac leaps out and onto him. Derek instinctively goes to shove the beta off the vulnerable skin of his stomach but Isaac just holds on, no claws or teeth, just hands gripping his back as he presses his wet face into Derek’s skin. He’s not crying anymore, his breathing slowing, but he’s obviously still in his head and Derek gives him the time he needs, letting him hold on.

Somewhere in all the noise he hears the Sheriff call his son’s name but he doesn’t think anything of it until all of a sudden, Stiles is right behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder and how the hell did someone sneak up on him? Derek pulls Isaac back and connects their eyes. “You good?” Isaac nods and moves away, letting Derek get up. “Go get some food. You’re done.” The beta gives him a small tired nod and walks back to the porch to ask Lydia for access to the snacks. “You shouldn’t approach us when we’re training.”

“You looked worse than him. Would it kill you to give a hug back or maybe offer some encouragement?”

“Maybe.” He could see Jackson standing up. “I’ll be back, you go hug and offer some encouragement.” He nods to Jackson before running into the woods. Now that he had Stiles’ idea that this was maybe some shared add or adhd or whatever he had, he tried to separate the sounds and see how much he could focus on at once.

Jackson was right behind him, jumping over obstacles and growling when Derek snapped a branch back at him, there was a rabbit running up ahead and the scent trail of the cars again. Stiles was asking Isaac if he’d rather have some candy bars and explaining how chocolate had endorphins while the Sheriff was telling him chips were a fine comfort food and to leave his snicker stash alone. And Derek could still see the trail in front of him, still sense how close Jackson was to swiping his back and able to bank right and lead the beta into a dried out holly bush. Jackson yelped and picked up speed with vengeance but he still made it back to the clearing before Jackson could do any damage.

If you knew how to use it, Stiles had a real gift. No wonder he could always get so much done and still have such energy. How could he take this from him? But then he remembered the distraction and how dangerous it was, and how Stiles lacked the years of focus Derek had utilized to be able to balance his concentration for just five minutes. Amazing, but probably best if it went away with his anger. Something to learn from and know they were capable of but not carry with them all the time.

“Lydia.” Jackson said before sitting down and picking the holly barbs out of his pants and stomach. Lydia beamed at him getting up off the porch and walking over as fast as her shoes would allow. She knelt next to Jackson, the beta tensed into a statue and held his breath.

“That’s sweet.” She said pecking a kiss on his cheek. “You can have meat tonight.” Jackson looked up to her, glowing blue eyes wide and hopeful only to be met with a smack. “You should have told me sooner!” She snapped, walking back to Derek. “Well, let’s get this over with. Get me dirty and you’re paying for the dry cleaning.

* * *

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” His dad was saying as Derek circled Lydia.

“It will be fine. She’s got a Taser and she’s terrifying. Derek won’t touch her, right?”

Derek nods, not taking his eyes off Lydia. “Use what’s around you. Don’t run without attacking first, you’ll never make it.”

“That’s encouraging.” Lydia was saying, leveling her Taser at Derek’s chest.

“Don’t actually fire!” Stiles said, a little high pitched, but hey, this was just training, no need to electrocute his mate.

“Just aiming.” Lydia said. “I’ll say bang when I want to fire.” Derek wiped a hand down his face.

“You can try firing if you want, as the Alpha it won’t affect me as badly. Just don’t hold the trigger down too long and try other means of an escape first. You know the Taser will work, but what if you didn’t have it on you?”

“I’d call Jackson.”

“Jackson is fighting someone else.”

“Then I’d call someone else.”

“You’re all alone.”

“Stiles  _always_ answers his phone.”

“He won’t get there fast enough.” Stiles watches Derek advance. He doesn’t know what to do, he wants to yell out to her, tell her to run anyway to find a stick to use as a weapon, pick up a rock, anything. But Lydia had to think for herself and he knew she could do it.

“I… I’d…” She makes a valiant effort to punch him in the face but he catches her fist easily. Lydia stops moving, looking around her before taking a deep breath. Derek raises a hand to tap her throat and signal the kill when she unleashes the most blood curdling scream Stiles has ever heard. This was horror movie gold, but something was off. It wasn’t just loud, it had all the betas curled up covering their ears. Even Derek fell to his knees blocking his ears and roaring against it, fangs making an appearance. When she finally stopped the forest was so quiet, like every living thing was holding its breath. Lydia turned to run and the world started again, wind blowing through the trees and Lydia’s shoes clomping all the way to Jackson’s car before she got inside.

“What the hell was that?” His dad asks next to him. The poor guy was taking a lot of crazy in stride today.

“I honestly don’t know, dad.” The man let out a nervous chuckle.

“You don’t think banshees are real do you?”

Stiles’ phone buzzed in his pocket and he huffed out a half terrified laugh as he took in the still incapacitated wolves shaking their heads and wiping blood away from their ears before answering. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Said Lydia’s voice tinny through the line, a little smaller than usual.

“So that was interesting.”

“Any ideas what that was?”

“Well… we already knew you’re something. We’ll figure it out.”

“Are they okay?” Derek was standing up, looking over his pack. They all started to sit up or stand. They looked okay.

“Guys? Derek?”

Derek walked up to him, “Tell her we’re good, and she lived. She can come out when she’s ready, but I want her to talk to Deaton.”

“You hear that?” Stiles asked. He saw Lydia nod in the car and she ended the call. Derek went to check on each beta individually before pulling Jackson off the ground and asking him if he wanted to go again. Jackson hesitated this time, looking at Stiles a little weird before nodding and they took off into the woods together.

Stiles passed out comfort food to the healing betas after their trauma while Allison went to go sit in the Porsche with Lydia. It didn’t take long for them to circle back this time, Derek had a limp but still managed to fend off Jackson’s last bout of attacks and shove the beta into the clearing. He sat down heavily next to the steps before leaning against Stiles again. “It’s you.” He said smiling.

“Yeah, it’s me. What did you hit your head?” Derek smiled up at him.

“No. Jackson’s last anchor. It’s you.” Jackson marched over, kicking Derek in the bloody patch around his ankle. Derek slammed his head against Stiles’ leg and arched his back but didn’t make a sound.

“It’s not him! It’s fighting with him.” Jackson growled. It was the first time he had come near the porch since Derek made him shift and Stiles was a little leery but glad at the same time that he was trying to trust the wolf. Either that or he was just too distracted to notice he was breaking his own rule. His dad elbowed him, probably thinking the same thing.

“It really warms my heart that you bullying me since the third grade keeps you from turning, Jackson.”

The beta looks down seeming almost ashamed before sighing and mumbling “Not like that.”

“Tell him and you can turn back.” Derek says, stretching his leg and closing his eyes, but Stiles’ knows he’s still listening to every move Jackson makes.

“Fighting  _with_ you. Against Peter. That time we remade the bombs and went after him. They worked and we won because of it. You’re not such a loser and we make a good team.” Jackson cracks his neck as though the admission pained him and puts his wolf back in place, human features coming out again with a blush over those perfect goddamn cheek bones.

“I think I might cry. Holy shit dude.” Jackson knocks into him, pushing him down a step when he goes up the stairs to get at the food. “You can’t fool me now man, I know that was a werewolf hug!” He growls and Stiles laughs. “How’s the leg coming?” He asked Derek, running his hands through his hair again.

“He tried to hobble me. Feels like my Achilles tendon rolled up under my calf. It’s going to take a minute.” Stiles tried to stay light and not gag at the thought of  _that_. God imagining one muscle get cut and roll up under another was like his new worst fear and Derek was acting like it happened every day.

“That’s alright. I don’t want to train with you anyway, pick someone else.”

“What?” Derek sits up, staring at him. Stiles feel a little bad but it’s true.

“I might be cocky, but I think I can make it to the woods and fend off an attack better in there. But you can hone in on my location so I’ll never know if I can actually make it. I want a real test.”

“I’ll turn it off.”

“You need to heal up. Pick someone else and entertain my dad with the awesome healing of what I probably,  _really_  don’t want to see.” Derek stared him down but Stiles held the gaze, trying to focus on what he wanted over just staring at Derek’s handsome features highlighted by the swipes of dirt on face.

“Isaac. Come here.” Derek sighed as the beta jogged up to them. “You up for going against Stiles?”

“What?”

“Chase, don’t touch. One tap on the neck to signify a kill. No claws. No fangs. Understood?”

Isaac bowed his head, “I can do that.”

“Alright. Start in the clearing. Wait for Stiles to say he’s ready. Don’t hold back on speed, don’t let him get hurt.”

As Stiles got up, his dad grabbed his arm. “Be careful.” Stiles smiled.

“It’s just training dad, and Isaac has great control. Derek wouldn’t agree to this if he thought I would get hurt, right? Relax.” His dad didn’t look very happy but he didn’t say anything else. He walked out to the center of the yard and moved in a circle with Isaac, never letting the beta get behind him and taking a good look at his surroundings while keeping a close eye on his opponent.

“Well I can thank Jackson for showing me that climbing a tree will be pointless.” He said, not totally discounting the idea if he can get in one without Isaac seeing and plan a sneak attack, higher ground and all that, so long as he wasn’t trapped. “My dad has my Taser which is fine because I’m going to put it in my glove compartment and forget it exists. I’d try ordering you to stop but that’s because you’re my pack if you were some random werewolf and no one else was around…” Stiles smirks “For the sake of training give me a head start?”

“An enemy wouldn’t.” Derek calls over, moving to sit on the stairs next to his dad.

“Unless they were the cocky kind that likes to talk and underestimate humans like every idiot we’ve faced so far. But fine. Okay.” He slowly leans to the side to pick up a rock he’d been eyeing, Isaac moves forward, but Stiles quickly steps aside and continues their circle, placing the rock in the front pocket of his over shirt.

“What is he doing?” He hears his dad ask.

Derek shrugs and Scott comes over to watch, “He’s always got a plan. Stiles can get out of anything, you should know that Mr. Stilinski.” Stiles bends forward to fill both his hands with dirt.

“God, please don’t throw that in my eyes.” Isaac says, not bothering to step forward in fear of being blinded.

“Not the plan.” Stiles says, snapping upright. He puts most of the dirt in his pockets and as Isaac steps closer again he throws the rest in his face, “but it was a good idea! Thanks!” He calls, bolting into the woods. He memorizes his path as he runs, taking out one hand full of dirt and throwing it to the left, darting right hoping that the mix of his own scent with the soil is enough to confuse the beta. He takes out his cell and scrolls through his apps blindly, taking his eyes off where he’s heading as little as possible as he opens the camera and starts swearing and laughing as he runs for his life in a wide loop, zigzagging through tree cover as best he can.

He waits until he’s about to cross the path they came in on, the small hill with tall grass straight forward before he whips off his shirt, using the weight of the rock to roll it through the brush ahead and taking another right, heading for the lowest branch of a tree and swinging himself up just in time to see Isaac run past towards the shirt. He takes as quiet a deep breath as he can before swinging slowly back down. He throws the rest of the dirt in the same direction he threw it earlier, hoping it wasn’t quite on the mark to make it seem like he was trying to fake out Isaac again by following the fake path from before. When he hears Isaac’s frustrated growl, he presses play on the phone and tosses it the same way, sending out a little prayer for his touch screen as he follows the path he ran in on and hopes he doesn’t step off the scent trail as he runs back to the clearing.

When he reaches the group, Stiles smiles at his victory, grabs a water bottle and takes a seat on the ground in front of Derek and his dad. Derek squeezes the back of his neck, letting out breathy laughter.

It takes about five minutes for Isaac to get back, holding his now silent phone and the shirt, looking very confused.

“How the hell did you do that?”

Stiles shrugs, looking over to Jackson with his biggest smile, “I climbed a tree.” Isaac throws the shirt at Stiles face.

“This is why we call Stiles.” Lydia says, patting Jackson’s leg where she’s out of the car and snacking with the pack again.

Derek’s hand moves down to his shoulder so he can pull Stiles back to look at him, “Show me.”

That wasn’t happening. He didn’t even know how that worked. He was going to chalk it up to Lydia’s ear drum bursting scream and Isaac not trying as hard as he could have. “But you can sense where I am.”

“I want to see what you did.” There’s this glint in Derek’s eyes like he’s a little impressed and a lot flirting and Stiles thinks, okay. If this leads where he thinks Derek is trying to hint at him that it’s going to lead, Stiles is up for another run. He keeps eye contact as he chugs down the rest of the water and throws in a wink just in case that wasn’t clear enough.

“Let’s do this.” He walks over to get his phone and puts the shirt back on.

* * *

Derek watches his mate run into the woods and tries to stay seated and relaxed as the Sheriff’s heart rate increases next to him.

“You can hear what’s happening can’t you? Tell me.”

“He’s running.  _Loudly_. I hope that’s not his only plan.” Derek says and the Sheriff tenses.

“Keep talking. He’s got to be doing something else.”

“He is but I can’t tell what. Isaac keeps veering off and weaving back to him. It’s putting distance between them but I don’t know what he’s-” Derek stops and listens harder, scenting the air for blood as Stiles suddenly starts swearing. His heart races for a second at the thought that he was hurt by something other than Isaac, but he’s still moving fast and laughing.

“What?” Sheriff Stilinski asks, standing up, fear dripping off him.

Derek sighs,“Stiles is doing what he does best.”

“What’s that?”

“Talking. God Stiles just shut up and run.” He had to have a plan, he couldn’t be this stupid. Then again he was laughing, did he think this was a joke? Derek heard something crash threw some bushes, thumping and tripping and he scented the air for blood again, but it wasn’t Stiles. He could feel Stiles stop and slow his breathing, Isaac took off after the noise and Stiles stayed put. “He’s so smart.” Derek couldn’t help grinning, his mate should have put more distance between them, but that was still a good idea.

“What? What is he doing?”

“I’m not really sure but he made something sound like a person tripping and Isaac went after it.”

“Did he throw the rock?”

“No. If he just threw it, it would make a quick noise maybe enough to make you look away for a second and make sure no one else is approaching but it would just be one short noise. This was different.”

“An animal maybe?”

Derek shakes his head and stays focused on the woods. Stiles is jogging back towards the clearing. His voice starts up again, swearing, breathing heavy with loud footfalls and snapping branches, he’s laughing again as something is skidding through the leaves with him. He can hear two Stiles. One heading towards the clearing where he went in and the other sliding and bumping down a slope and towards the cars. Derek breaths out a laugh as Stiles careens into view, going straight for the water then plopping down in front of him. The red plaid he was wearing is gone but Derek doesn’t mind as he takes in how the Tshirt clings to his shoulders. It’s a little big, but he can’t help the hitch in his breathing as he squeezes the back of his mate’s neck and feels the thin cloth scrape his palm. It would be so easy to slide his hand under the collar and touch more skin, drag his fingers through the sweat making the fabric cling to Stiles back and soak in his scent.

Isaac comes back and Derek can hear the talk around him but all he can think about is following that scent through the woods and catching Stiles. He wants to see how he outwitted his beta and he wants to reward him for making it back alive.

It takes a minute and some abuse of the knowledge that Stiles like his eyes when they’re red for his mate to agree, but then he’s putting on the plaid again, picking up another rock to put in the pocket of his shirt and putting more dirt in his pants pockets.

Derek rotates his ankle, the flesh has knitted itself back together, and the tendon is healing but still torn in places, he'll be sore for a while. It won’t give enough to give Stiles the advantage but it will definitely give him a better shot than if Derek was running at full strength. Stiles notices the slip in his attention and puts his phone in his back pocket before he kneels down and reaches over to lift up his pant leg, he can’t help flinching.

“You shouldn’t be running yet.”

“I’m going to be doing more watching than chasing. It’ll be fine in a few more minutes anyway.” Derek says as he grabs his hand and pulls him up, giving it a squeeze before letting go. “Come on.”

Derek watched Stiles run on a path almost identical to the one his scent and Isaac’s were mixed on from moments ago. He weaved left and right, darting in and out of sight and doing something to make a softer hint of his scent mix with the earth to the side once he was hidden behind a cluster of trees. Derek would be tempted to follow it if he couldn’t feel that tug telling him Stiles was going another way. They’re going in a circle, he picks up the scent from the first turn up ahead when Stiles darts behind a wide tree and he hears that noise again, like someone tripping through the bushes where Stiles was headed and smells his mate’s scent up ahead, but that same string tugs at the back of his mind and tells him to look up. Stiles is perched on the branch above him, shirt off again and smiling as he pants.

“Isaac kept running and I used the time to slow my breathing, climb down and make a new scent path.” Stiles drops from the tree and walks back a little ways, throwing the dirt from his pocket forward when the trees to his left are about to make him visible to someone searching the hills below, He heads back towards Derek and the start of the original path to pull out his phone and play the video. “I recorded myself running and figured I should be as loud as possible, you know. I threw it past the dirt, making sure it was in a spot where it would keep sliding and then did the best I could to follow the same scent path back to the start. Easy.” He smiled.

Derek shook his head. That wasn’t easy, that was incredibly fast and thorough thinking with a lot of risk. He reaches out to brush some bark and dirt off Stiles’ chest before closing a hand in the fabric and pulling him quickly forward. Stiles stumbles and falls against him, “You’re amazing.” He whispers. How it took him so long to realize, he’ll never know. He leans down to kiss whatever Stiles was about to say right off his mates lips and can’t make himself stop.

Especially when Stiles takes control, licking the seam of his lips and nibbling his way in to Derek’s mouth. His mate wraps clinging arms around him, hands brushing up and down Derek’s back until he opens up for him and nails scrape down his tattoo and back up into his hair. Derek tries to take control of the kiss, pressing and sliding his tongue against Stiles’ as he pulls him closer by the shirt and scrapes his own nails over Stile’s scalp.

“Is this training or foreplay?” His mate gasps and pants before retaliating, walking him backwards up against the tree he was perched in and moving his hands down to squeeze Derek’s hips and push him harder against the bark, attacking his mouth with new vigor.

Derek could end this battle for dominance without even trying if he could only get his hands to stop moving, get his fingers to stop tracing and squeezing. Stop running his nails up through the light hair on his mate’s arms and grasping the biceps flexing with the effort of pinning him. Stop sneaking his finger tips under the hem of the short sleeves, searching for uncharted skin.

Stiles brings a hand up to tug at the hair on the back of his head, changing the angle of the kiss and making him groan. A leg sneaks between his own and Derek has to pull away for air. He lets his head fall to Stiles shoulder, panting into the skin and bringing the hot scent wafting back up to his face. He has to hum against the sensation for a second before he can bring himself to speak.

“Not here.” He breaths into Stiles’ neck, even as he runs his hands downs Stiles’ sides until they can sneak back up his shirt. His mate has lean muscles, runners muscles carved out from lacrosse and all their run ins with things that need running from but they’re not bulky, the skin still soft and quivering underneath his palms.

“Why not?” His mates whispers against his ear, nibbling it before placing a kiss behind it. Voices come to him on the breeze, he knows there’s a reason, it’s just not as important as Stiles running his hands down his spine and playing with the waistband of his pants. Stiles fingers scratch against the denim and his skin, circling his waist and around to the front where his thumb pulls against the button, letting it flick back, the teasing action making Derek’s breath catch in his throat in anticipation. Those voices float back again and as much as he hates himself, so do the reasons they need to stop.

“Your dad will get worried if we’re gone too long.” He pants.

“We won’t be gone that long.” Stiles says, those damn hands circling back around to slip into his jeans to knead and squeeze his ass. Derek slams his head back against the tree and moans as finger nails sink in to the bare skin before Stiles pinches him.

“Fuck. I knew it.” Stiles groans against his neck. They’re both panting as Stiles' new form of leverage brings their hips together and Derek can’t help but to buck up as Stiles gropes him and runs his lips from his ear down to his collar bone and up the other side.

His hands flex on Stiles’ hips, torn between pulling him in harder or pushing him away. “The pack can hear us” he breaths out, growling, not whimpering, as Stiles rolls their hips together again and scrapes his teeth over Derek’s pulse. With one last squeeze, his mate brings a hand to push Derek back against the tree again and the other to scrape at his scalp. He never knew he could love the feel of fingers in his hair this much. Stiles tugged his head down so his eyes could watch Derek’s face as he scraped his scalp again. “You like that huh?” He could feel his eyelids flutter at the touch and tried to roll is hips forward missing the heat and friction, but he wouldn’t push past Stiles’ hold. “I love your eyes.” They kiss again, hot and slow, Derek’s eyes slipping closed as he loses his breath again. “I didn’t do this part before, but I think I’ll still win.” He whispers against Derek’s lips, pressing one last kiss to them before stepping back. “You have to get my shirt.” He says and runs away. Derek shivers at the loss of heat. What the hell just happened?

Oh.

His eyes fly open as he races after his mate.

* * *

Jackson lays back, resting his head in Lydia’s soft lap. She keeps running her fingers through his hair. Typically he’d be pushing her away but he knows his hair is already screwed from running through the woods and fighting with Derek so he doesn’t really mind. That and the tremors in her hands aren’t as bad now that she’s doing something with them.

Jackson turned his head to look at the Sheriff’s boot bouncing on the steps as he jiggles his leg. He listens to the creak of the old wood and watches the dirt and dust float down to the ground under the porch. He stretched out his leg and turned his foot so it caught under the Sheriff's and stopped the movement. Sheriff Stilinski jumped before moving his leg away. Jackson sighed, at least the noise stopped, the man didn’t need to like him. He didn’t expect any different since he found out about the Kanima and saw him as a werewolf for hours. He was probably disgusted they had touched.

“Sorry.”

Jackson looked back to him, “What?”

“I apologized, for the noise.” The man sighed again, opting to play with the ripped cardboard on top of the milk bone box instead of going back to the incessant leg jiggling. “They’ve been gone a while haven’t they?”

Jackson shrugs.“I just heard him make the tripping noise again.” McCall says, with the attention off him, Jackson relaxes against Lydia and goes back to listening to the chase. From the sounds of it, Derek didn’t fall for Stiles’ little trick. What a loser, thinking he could pull the same thing twice.

“What are they doing now?”

“Just talking. Derek figured it out and Stiles explained the rest. I think they’re on their way back.” Scott vaults over the railing of the deck to raid the snacks again. He’s sniffing around and Jackson opens up an eye to look, what was so hard about picking a bag of chips? “Allison, do you have wolfsbane in your purse?”Scott pulled out the big eyes he used on the girls and Stiles, looking like a heartbroken idiot.

“No Scott, you know I don’t carry those.” Her heart wasn’t lying. Jackson didn’t know that. Now he did.

“Your bag reeks.”

“I left it in the garage. I’m sorry. I’ll wash it.” Jackson rolled his eyes, if he ever found wolfsbane on Lydia’s purse he’d probably thank his lucky stars she was trying to protect herself and not relying on others. Although if that scream was any indication, she definitely could. With that last awkward  _are Scott and Allison together?_  moment he didn’t need today, things got quiet again. Even Boyd and Erica stopped whispering about finding her an anchor. And that’s when he heard it. Both eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, nearly making the Sheriff jump off the stairs.

“What, what did you hear?” Jackson tries to talk but can only open his mouth because anything he would typically say gets cut off when he remembers this man is the Sheriff and not only could he arrest him, but he could ban Stiles from the pack if Derek did something like screw his son in the woods and that would just be shit for everyone.

“Nothing.”Scott says, tilting his head and listening with a frown on his face. “They aren’t talking anymore or walking but I hear their hearts, they’re-“

“No!” Erica yells, “What was that? Are they making out? Where’s my phone? I need a picture.” Boyd grabs her arm and pulls her back to the ground before she can run off and break up whatever’s going on. Jackson lays back down turning his face into Lydia’s stomach as she giggles.

“What? It can’t be that bad.” He can hear the smile in her voice, but he doesn’t want to move his ears from the comforting beat of her heart blocking out the noises in the woods long enough to look.

“You didn't just hear the worst pick up line in the history of Stiles.” He said to her lap and she giggled some more.

“God it’s like walking in on your parents!” Erica yells. “Scott. Hang in there.”

Jackson’s head jerks up at the bang from Scott jumping off the porch, McCall looks like he’s going to cry as he and Erica hug it out. Freaks. Isaac is moving away from the tree line, not that it would help, and the Sheriff waves him over, red in the face but powering through it.

“Can’t you…Never mind, I’ll go break it up.”

“Sheriff Stilinski? I don’t know if you really want to know but-” They all wince and groan at the noise that just came out of Derek. Jackson buried his face in Lydia’s stomach again covering his ears, she decided to be nice and cover his hands with hers.

“But what?” He could hear over their heart beats, Stiles’ dad was not sounding very happy. They were never going to see Stiles again. Except for at school, but he was just annoying there so that didn’t count.

“From what we’re hearing Derek is trying valiantly to persuade Stiles to stop. Stiles, uh…I think he has Derek pinned.” No way.

“Stiles has him pinned?!” Jackson shot up again, listening, and sure enough Derek was making noises he’d regret listening for later but it sounded like he was struggling against something as he told Stiles the pack could hear them. “How the fuck did that scrawny little bitch take him down?” Sheriff Stilinski walks back to the porch and grabs the milk bone box, hurling it at Jackson’s chest before he could react. “What the fuck?”

“Watch your mouth and don’t talk about Stiles like that. If he’s your anchor, treat him like one and show him some respect.” Jackson sat down again. Everyone was in different stages of trying to hold back laughter and straight out gasping and snorting while Scott started a slow clap. Lydia brushed some crumbs off his chest and leaned against him.

“It’s okay babe. You did your best, and Derek wasn’t running away from Stiles so maybe it was easier.” She said before laughing too.

* * *

Stiles ran into the yard, barely getting to the blood stained patch of dirt they had been starting the fights at before Derek crashed through the trees and passed him to step in his way. “Hey, you forgot my shirt.”

Derek shook his head, “You’re dead.”

“I’m not dead, I’m on goo!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Goo! The starting point! I made it back, you can’t kill me.” Stiles said, stepping around him and going to sit on the steps and better hide what could easily become an embarrassing situation. He saw Derek’s back and nearly choked as the alpha turned to keep lecturing him on his survival tactics.

“Did you make it to your car or pack for an escape?”

“I call this pack,” Stiles gestured to everyone watching them “and I made it to my Taser. Now, stop being a horrible loser and let me gloat for a second.” He went up to Derek, grabbing his shoulders and turning him so the pack wouldn’t see the scratch marks half covered by Derek’s jeans and on the back of his neck. They were already fading into nonexistence because life was unfair. “Erica,  _this_ is how you use a kiss to distract and gain advantage!” Stiles ran his fingers lightly over the fading marks at the hem of Derek’s jeans and the alpha twitched.

“Derek, control yourself! Stiles for love of god stop touching him.” Erica whined, covering her mouth and nose. Scott did the same next to her and he felt a little bad. Jackson just looked traumatized and Boyd and Isaac looked simultaneously amused and uncomfortable. “Oh man, Scott.”

“Yeah?”

“I think it’s going to get worse.”

“Don’t say that!” Scott mumbled behind his hand.

“What’s going to get worse?” Stiles asks without thinking because they both look so upset and that’s just what he does.

“How Derek smells when he goes into heat!” Erica yells and Stiles want to be mortified, he really does, but his dad just did a priceless spit take and it got all over Jackson’s pants and this whole day just needs someone to laugh at it.

Derek went back to the woods as Stiles laughed with the others. When he could breathe again, he did his best to divert his dad’s attention away from  _what Erica did_ not  _just give away about Alphas_. “Erica, come up with a new anchor yet?” Stiles asked, heading back to his seat and his water bottle. All of a sudden he really wanted training to be over so he could get Derek alone again, preferably without the pack in hearing distance. Wonder why.

“The first time I felt the moon.”

Stiles nods, he’s not sure if it was a good idea with the whole less control under the full moon thing, but at least she actually put some thought into this one.

Derek ran back into the clearing, Stiles shirt in hand and Erica scrunched up her nose again.

“Gross, now I have to fight you while you smell like sex.” Yeah, the car ride home was not going to be pleasant.

 

**Author's Note:**

> edited 11 January 2014  
> Please bring any mistakes we missed to the comment section or thebadassisin.tumblr.com/ask  
> Thank you - WT


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